The chapters in this volume resulted from an international conference held at the University of Texas at Austin on April 3–6, 2003. The conference explored the period between roughly the 4th century ...
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The chapters in this volume resulted from an international conference held at the University of Texas at Austin on April 3–6, 2003. The conference explored the period between roughly the 4th century bce and the 5th century ce, a period that saw unparalleled developments within the Indian subcontinent, developments that defined classical Indian culture and society. The conference was dubbed Between the Empires, because the heart of the period falls between the decline of the first major Indian empire, that of the Mauryas (whose last king died in the early 2nd century bce), and the rise of the Gupta Empire (beginning in the 4th century ce). The aim of the conference was to bring together scholars pursuing advanced research relating to this period and to provide them the opportunity to interact with each other over a two- or three-day period. The participants included archeologists, art historians, numismatists, historians, experts in literature, law, and linguistics, philosophers, and historians of religion.Less

Between the Empires : Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE

Published in print: 2006-07-13

The chapters in this volume resulted from an international conference held at the University of Texas at Austin on April 3–6, 2003. The conference explored the period between roughly the 4th century bce and the 5th century ce, a period that saw unparalleled developments within the Indian subcontinent, developments that defined classical Indian culture and society. The conference was dubbed Between the Empires, because the heart of the period falls between the decline of the first major Indian empire, that of the Mauryas (whose last king died in the early 2nd century bce), and the rise of the Gupta Empire (beginning in the 4th century ce). The aim of the conference was to bring together scholars pursuing advanced research relating to this period and to provide them the opportunity to interact with each other over a two- or three-day period. The participants included archeologists, art historians, numismatists, historians, experts in literature, law, and linguistics, philosophers, and historians of religion.

Linda Hess and Shukdeo Singh

Published in print:

2002

Published Online:

November 2003

ISBN:

9780195148763

eISBN:

9780199869718

Item type:

book

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

DOI:

10.1093/0195148762.001.0001

Subject:

Religion, Hinduism

Kabir, the fifteenth‐century weaver‐poet of Varanasi, is still one of the most revered and popular saint‐singers of North India. He belonged to a family of Muslim julahas (weavers of low‐caste ...
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Kabir, the fifteenth‐century weaver‐poet of Varanasi, is still one of the most revered and popular saint‐singers of North India. He belonged to a family of Muslim julahas (weavers of low‐caste status), is believed to have been a disciple of the Hindu guru Ramanand, and often sang of inner experience using language of the subtle yogic body. Yet he cannot be classified as Hindu, Muslim, or yogi. Fiercely independent, he has become an icon of speaking truth to power. In a blunt and uncompromising style, he exhorted his listeners to shed their delusions, pretensions, and orthodoxies in favor of a direct experience of truth. He satirized hypocrisy, greed, and violence—especially among the religious. Belonging to a social group widely considered low and unclean, he criticized caste ideology and declared the equality of all human beings. Kabir was an oral poet whose works were written down by others. His oral traditions have flourished for more than 500 years, producing a rich array of musical forms, folk and classical, in countless local dialects and regional styles. Thousands of poems are popularly attributed to Kabir, but only a few written collections have survived over the centuries. The Bījak is the sacred book of the Kabir Panth, or sect devoted to Kabir's teachings. This book presents about half of the Bījak; the translators have selected those poems which seem most representative and which work best in translation. The Bījak includes three main sections called Ramainī, Śabda, and Sākhī, and a fourth section containing miscellaneous folksong forms. Most of the Kabir material has been popularized through the song form known as śabda (or pada), and through the aphoristic two‐line sākhī (or doha) that serves throughout north India as a vehicle for popular wisdom. These two forms have been emphasized in this translation; a group of ramainīs have also been included. An introduction by Hess precedes the translations; scholarly notes and three appendices, including an essay on Kabir's ulatbamsi or “upside‐down language,” are also by Hess.Less

The Bijak of Kabir

Linda HessShukdeo Singh

Published in print: 2002-05-09

Kabir, the fifteenth‐century weaver‐poet of Varanasi, is still one of the most revered and popular saint‐singers of North India. He belonged to a family of Muslim julahas (weavers of low‐caste status), is believed to have been a disciple of the Hindu guru Ramanand, and often sang of inner experience using language of the subtle yogic body. Yet he cannot be classified as Hindu, Muslim, or yogi. Fiercely independent, he has become an icon of speaking truth to power. In a blunt and uncompromising style, he exhorted his listeners to shed their delusions, pretensions, and orthodoxies in favor of a direct experience of truth. He satirized hypocrisy, greed, and violence—especially among the religious. Belonging to a social group widely considered low and unclean, he criticized caste ideology and declared the equality of all human beings. Kabir was an oral poet whose works were written down by others. His oral traditions have flourished for more than 500 years, producing a rich array of musical forms, folk and classical, in countless local dialects and regional styles. Thousands of poems are popularly attributed to Kabir, but only a few written collections have survived over the centuries. The Bījak is the sacred book of the Kabir Panth, or sect devoted to Kabir's teachings. This book presents about half of the Bījak; the translators have selected those poems which seem most representative and which work best in translation. The Bījak includes three main sections called Ramainī, Śabda, and Sākhī, and a fourth section containing miscellaneous folksong forms. Most of the Kabir material has been popularized through the song form known as śabda (or pada), and through the aphoristic two‐line sākhī (or doha) that serves throughout north India as a vehicle for popular wisdom. These two forms have been emphasized in this translation; a group of ramainīs have also been included. An introduction by Hess precedes the translations; scholarly notes and three appendices, including an essay on Kabir's ulatbamsi or “upside‐down language,” are also by Hess.

This work closely examines the architectural and sculptural “texts” of the Vaikuntha Perumal Temple built for Vishnu/Krishna at Kanchipuram in the 8th century. The keys to unlock the meaning of these ...
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This work closely examines the architectural and sculptural “texts” of the Vaikuntha Perumal Temple built for Vishnu/Krishna at Kanchipuram in the 8th century. The keys to unlock the meaning of these “texts” are in a poem written about the temple by Tirumangai Alvar shortly after it was built. Sacred texts and liturgical practices are also analyzed to understand the vision this Vishnu‐house was intended to embody for sophisticated Bhagavatas of the time. The three‐story temple, conceived as a mandala, houses figures representing various aspects or formations of the supreme Vishnu, and it is covered with some fifty-six panels of figures representing scenes from sacred texts, primarily the Bhagavata Purana. Not only are the stories illustrated by the panels important but also their physical placement, which takes into account metaphysical and cosmological implications of where they are situated on the building and their positions relative to one another. Pancharatra doctrine informs and is illustrated by the panels, opening up complex and subtle relations between the stories and teachings represented. The sculptural program also portrays the spiritual progress of the builder, the emperor Nandivarman Pallavamalla. His life and career are illustrated on the interior of the surrounding walls.Less

The Body of God : An Emperor's Palace for Krishna in Eighth Century Kanchipuram

D. Dennis Hudson

Published in print: 2008-08-19

This work closely examines the architectural and sculptural “texts” of the Vaikuntha Perumal Temple built for Vishnu/Krishna at Kanchipuram in the 8th century. The keys to unlock the meaning of these “texts” are in a poem written about the temple by Tirumangai Alvar shortly after it was built. Sacred texts and liturgical practices are also analyzed to understand the vision this Vishnu‐house was intended to embody for sophisticated Bhagavatas of the time. The three‐story temple, conceived as a mandala, houses figures representing various aspects or formations of the supreme Vishnu, and it is covered with some fifty-six panels of figures representing scenes from sacred texts, primarily the Bhagavata Purana. Not only are the stories illustrated by the panels important but also their physical placement, which takes into account metaphysical and cosmological implications of where they are situated on the building and their positions relative to one another. Pancharatra doctrine informs and is illustrated by the panels, opening up complex and subtle relations between the stories and teachings represented. The sculptural program also portrays the spiritual progress of the builder, the emperor Nandivarman Pallavamalla. His life and career are illustrated on the interior of the surrounding walls.

In 1839, a group of Hindu elite gathered in Calcutta to share and propagate their faith in a non-idolatrous form of worship. The group, known as the Tattvabodhinī Sabhā, met weekly to worship and ...
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In 1839, a group of Hindu elite gathered in Calcutta to share and propagate their faith in a non-idolatrous form of worship. The group, known as the Tattvabodhinī Sabhā, met weekly to worship and hear discourses from members on ways to promote a rational and morally responsible mode of worship. They called upon ancient sources of Hindu spirituality to guide them in developing a modern form of theism they referred to as “Vedanta”.This book situates the theology and moral vision set forth in these hitherto unknown discourses against the backdrop of religious and social change in early colonial Calcutta. In doing so, it demonstrates how the theology of the Tattvabodhinī Sabhā legitimated the worldly interests of Calcutta's emergent bourgeoisie. This “bourgeois Vedanta” sanctioned material prosperity while providing members with a means of spiritual fulfillment. The book includes the first ever complete, annotated translation of Sabhyadiger vaktṛtā, the earliest extant record of the Tattvabodhinī Sabhā. The translation is supplemented with an analysis of the text demonstrating that its twenty-one unsigned discourses were composed by such major figures in 19th-century Bengal as Debendranath Tagore, Inullvaracandra Vidyasagara, Inullvaracandra Gupta, and Aksayakumara Datta. The book explores a decisive moment in the construction of modern Vedanta, and comments on the concerns this Vedantic movement raised for contemporary Christian observers. It demonstrates the decisive role played by the Tattvabodhinī Sabhā in both reviving and reformulating the teachings of Rammohan Roy, the founder of Vedantic reform in colonial India. It also suggests that the earliest members of the Sabhā are best viewed as “Brhamos without Rammohan”. Only later would they look to Rammohan as their founding father.Less

Bourgeouis Hinduism, or Faith of the Modern Vedantists : Rare Discourses from Early Colonial Bengal

Brian A. Hatcher

Published in print: 2008-01-01

In 1839, a group of Hindu elite gathered in Calcutta to share and propagate their faith in a non-idolatrous form of worship. The group, known as the Tattvabodhinī Sabhā, met weekly to worship and hear discourses from members on ways to promote a rational and morally responsible mode of worship. They called upon ancient sources of Hindu spirituality to guide them in developing a modern form of theism they referred to as “Vedanta”.This book situates the theology and moral vision set forth in these hitherto unknown discourses against the backdrop of religious and social change in early colonial Calcutta. In doing so, it demonstrates how the theology of the Tattvabodhinī Sabhā legitimated the worldly interests of Calcutta's emergent bourgeoisie. This “bourgeois Vedanta” sanctioned material prosperity while providing members with a means of spiritual fulfillment. The book includes the first ever complete, annotated translation of Sabhyadiger vaktṛtā, the earliest extant record of the Tattvabodhinī Sabhā. The translation is supplemented with an analysis of the text demonstrating that its twenty-one unsigned discourses were composed by such major figures in 19th-century Bengal as Debendranath Tagore, Inullvaracandra Vidyasagara, Inullvaracandra Gupta, and Aksayakumara Datta. The book explores a decisive moment in the construction of modern Vedanta, and comments on the concerns this Vedantic movement raised for contemporary Christian observers. It demonstrates the decisive role played by the Tattvabodhinī Sabhā in both reviving and reformulating the teachings of Rammohan Roy, the founder of Vedantic reform in colonial India. It also suggests that the earliest members of the Sabhā are best viewed as “Brhamos without Rammohan”. Only later would they look to Rammohan as their founding father.

Jeffrey G. Snodgrass

Based on three years of anthropological fieldwork in the Indian state of Rajasthan, this book explores the manner that semi-nomadic performers known as Bhats understand and also subvert caste ...
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Based on three years of anthropological fieldwork in the Indian state of Rajasthan, this book explores the manner that semi-nomadic performers known as Bhats understand and also subvert caste hierarchies. A number of scholars have recently contended that caste is invented and thus a fiction of a kind. Focus in these studies, however, is typically placed on the way that caste is imagined according to the agendas and desires of elite Westerners such as colonial officials. By contrast, this book argues that Bhats themselves understand the imaginative dimensions of caste relations. It focuses on the way that Bhats (literally, “Bards”) now entertain a variety of contemporary sponsors — village patrons, foreign and domestic tourists, urban elites, government officials, development experts, and Hindu nationalists — with ballads, epics, and puppet plays detailing the exploits of Rajasthan’s long-dead kings and heroes. As the book delves deeper into the complexities and contradictions of Bhat art, identity, and political resistance, the complexities and contradictions of modern India are likewise revealed.Less

Casting Kings : Bards and Indian Modernity

Jeffrey G. Snodgrass

Published in print: 2006-08-01

Based on three years of anthropological fieldwork in the Indian state of Rajasthan, this book explores the manner that semi-nomadic performers known as Bhats understand and also subvert caste hierarchies. A number of scholars have recently contended that caste is invented and thus a fiction of a kind. Focus in these studies, however, is typically placed on the way that caste is imagined according to the agendas and desires of elite Westerners such as colonial officials. By contrast, this book argues that Bhats themselves understand the imaginative dimensions of caste relations. It focuses on the way that Bhats (literally, “Bards”) now entertain a variety of contemporary sponsors — village patrons, foreign and domestic tourists, urban elites, government officials, development experts, and Hindu nationalists — with ballads, epics, and puppet plays detailing the exploits of Rajasthan’s long-dead kings and heroes. As the book delves deeper into the complexities and contradictions of Bhat art, identity, and political resistance, the complexities and contradictions of modern India are likewise revealed.

This book sets out to explore the doctrinal dimension of classical Hinduism (eighth century BCE to circa 1000 CE.), and is organized in terms of its key concepts: brahman, karma, karma-yoga, etc. ...
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This book sets out to explore the doctrinal dimension of classical Hinduism (eighth century BCE to circa 1000 CE.), and is organized in terms of its key concepts: brahman, karma, karma-yoga, etc. which are discussed in their logical connection as well as in the context of a period of Hinduism which is chronologically connected with those that precede and succeed it. In textual terms, this covers the period from the Upanishads down to the late Purānas, and all that comes between them: the Smrtis (law books), the Itihāsas (epics), the Purānas (ancient lore), the Āgamas (liturgical manuals) and Darśanas (philosophical literature), etc. The purpose of the book is to synchronically and systematically present the governing concepts of classical Hinduism and their operation during the delimited period of classical Hinduism. Three features of the book to enable readers to use it to full advantage: (1) the first chapter constitutes the text of an oral presentation made at the Smithsonian Institution, designed to present classical Hindu thought in a concise and accessible manner. It forms a useful introduction to the conceptual framework of Hinduism, as the key ideas have deliberately been presented in a simple and direct manner. Their complexities and nuances are uncovered under the specific chapters that follow. (2) The rest of the book may be viewed as a magnification of the first chapter. (3) Among the essentials of classical Hindu thought, special and detailed consideration has been accorded to the concept of varna.Less

Classical Hindu Thought : An Introduction

Arvind Sharma

Published in print: 2001-07-01

This book sets out to explore the doctrinal dimension of classical Hinduism (eighth century BCE to circa 1000 CE.), and is organized in terms of its key concepts: brahman, karma, karma-yoga, etc. which are discussed in their logical connection as well as in the context of a period of Hinduism which is chronologically connected with those that precede and succeed it. In textual terms, this covers the period from the Upanishads down to the late Purānas, and all that comes between them: the Smrtis (law books), the Itihāsas (epics), the Purānas (ancient lore), the Āgamas (liturgical manuals) and Darśanas (philosophical literature), etc. The purpose of the book is to synchronically and systematically present the governing concepts of classical Hinduism and their operation during the delimited period of classical Hinduism. Three features of the book to enable readers to use it to full advantage: (1) the first chapter constitutes the text of an oral presentation made at the Smithsonian Institution, designed to present classical Hindu thought in a concise and accessible manner. It forms a useful introduction to the conceptual framework of Hinduism, as the key ideas have deliberately been presented in a simple and direct manner. Their complexities and nuances are uncovered under the specific chapters that follow. (2) The rest of the book may be viewed as a magnification of the first chapter. (3) Among the essentials of classical Hindu thought, special and detailed consideration has been accorded to the concept of varna.

What does it mean to be a Brahmin? And what could it mean to become one? While Brahmin intellectuals have offered plenty of answers to the first question, the latter presents a puzzle, since the ...
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What does it mean to be a Brahmin? And what could it mean to become one? While Brahmin intellectuals have offered plenty of answers to the first question, the latter presents a puzzle, since the normative ideology of caste deems it impossible for an ordinary individual to do so without first undergoing death and rebirth. In Hindu mythology, however, one notable figure named Viśvāmitra is said to have transformed himself from a king into a Brahmin sage by amassing great ascetic power, or tapas. This book examines the rich mosaic of legends about Viśvāmitra that are found across the Hindu mythological tradition—through texts composed in Sanskrit and vernacular languages, oral performances, and visual media—and offers a comprehensive historical analysis of how the “storyworlds” conjured up through these various tellings have, time and again, served to adapt, upgrade, and reinforce the social identity of real-world Brahmin communities, from the ancient Vedic past up to the hypermodern present. Using a performance-centered approach to situate the production of the Viśvāmitra legends within specific historical contexts, this study reveals how and why mythological culture has played an active, dialogical role in the naturalization of Brahmin social power over the last three thousand years.Less

Crossing the Lines of Caste : Visvamitra and the Construction of Brahmin Power in Hindu Mythology

Adheesh A. Sathaye

Published in print: 2015-06-01

What does it mean to be a Brahmin? And what could it mean to become one? While Brahmin intellectuals have offered plenty of answers to the first question, the latter presents a puzzle, since the normative ideology of caste deems it impossible for an ordinary individual to do so without first undergoing death and rebirth. In Hindu mythology, however, one notable figure named Viśvāmitra is said to have transformed himself from a king into a Brahmin sage by amassing great ascetic power, or tapas. This book examines the rich mosaic of legends about Viśvāmitra that are found across the Hindu mythological tradition—through texts composed in Sanskrit and vernacular languages, oral performances, and visual media—and offers a comprehensive historical analysis of how the “storyworlds” conjured up through these various tellings have, time and again, served to adapt, upgrade, and reinforce the social identity of real-world Brahmin communities, from the ancient Vedic past up to the hypermodern present. Using a performance-centered approach to situate the production of the Viśvāmitra legends within specific historical contexts, this study reveals how and why mythological culture has played an active, dialogical role in the naturalization of Brahmin social power over the last three thousand years.

William S. Sax

Published in print:

2002

Published Online:

November 2003

ISBN:

9780195139150

eISBN:

9780199871650

Item type:

book

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

DOI:

10.1093/0195139151.001.0001

Subject:

Religion, Hinduism

Explores the way personhood is constructed in public ritual performance. The performances are pandav lilas, ritual dramatizations of India's great epic, Mahabharata. They take place in the former ...
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Explores the way personhood is constructed in public ritual performance. The performances are pandav lilas, ritual dramatizations of India's great epic, Mahabharata. They take place in the former Hindu kingdom of Garhwal, located in the central Himalayas of North India. The book begins by summarizing the theoretical literature on personhood (or ”selfhood”) and performance and providing a brief summary of the epic. Next, it describes one particular performance in detail and then goes on to discuss questions of caste, gender, and locality – all in the context of an overarching discussion of the performative construction of the self. The last few chapters describe a fascinating valley in the Western part of Garhwal, where the villains of the Mahabharata are worshiped as local, divine kings. The major conclusion reached by the book is that public ritual performances are one of the chief arenas where ”persons” are constructed – in Garhwal as well as in other cultures.Less

Dancing the Self : Personhood and Performance in the Pandav Lila of Garhwal

William S. Sax

Published in print: 2002-03-21

Explores the way personhood is constructed in public ritual performance. The performances are pandav lilas, ritual dramatizations of India's great epic, Mahabharata. They take place in the former Hindu kingdom of Garhwal, located in the central Himalayas of North India. The book begins by summarizing the theoretical literature on personhood (or ”selfhood”) and performance and providing a brief summary of the epic. Next, it describes one particular performance in detail and then goes on to discuss questions of caste, gender, and locality – all in the context of an overarching discussion of the performative construction of the self. The last few chapters describe a fascinating valley in the Western part of Garhwal, where the villains of the Mahabharata are worshiped as local, divine kings. The major conclusion reached by the book is that public ritual performances are one of the chief arenas where ”persons” are constructed – in Garhwal as well as in other cultures.

From a verbal root meaning “to hold” or “uphold,” dharma is taken to have been the main term by which Buddhism and Hinduism came, over about five centuries, to describe their distinctive visions of ...
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From a verbal root meaning “to hold” or “uphold,” dharma is taken to have been the main term by which Buddhism and Hinduism came, over about five centuries, to describe their distinctive visions of the good and well‐rewarded life. From about 300 BCE to about 200 CE, Buddhist and Brahmanical authors used it to clarify and classify their mutual and contending values in relation to dramatically changing historical conditions. Before this, the term had no such centrality, and after it, each tradition came to define normative dharma separately as the term's interreligious dimension lost interest. This book about dharma in history thus attempts to get at the concepts and practices associated with the term mainly during this window, which opens on dharma's vitality as it played, and was played, across political, religious, legal, literary, ethical, and philosophical domains and discourses about what “holds” life together. It examines what dharma meant in eleven texts, including text clusters like the Aśokan edicts and the canonical Buddhist Three Baskets, that can be said to have made dharma their central concern. These eleven “dharma texts,” nine “major” (including those just mentioned, the dharmasūtras, the Sanskrit epics, The Laws of Manu, and the Buddhacarita), and two “minor” (the Yuga Purāṇa and a set of Buddhist prophesies of the end of the Buddhist dharma), are explored for their treatments of dharma as experienced “over time” during this period of dynamic change. Each chapter brings out ways in which dharma is interpreted temporally: from grand cosmic chronometries of yugas and kalpas to narratives about divine plans, implications of itihāsa or “history,” war, and peace, gendered nuances of genealogical time, royal biography (even autobiography with Aśoka), guidelines for the royal life including daily routines, householder regimens including daily obligations and life‐stages, and monastic regimens including meditation.Less

Dharma : Its Early History in Law, Religion, and Narrative

Alf Hiltebeitel

Published in print: 2011-08-11

From a verbal root meaning “to hold” or “uphold,” dharma is taken to have been the main term by which Buddhism and Hinduism came, over about five centuries, to describe their distinctive visions of the good and well‐rewarded life. From about 300 BCE to about 200 CE, Buddhist and Brahmanical authors used it to clarify and classify their mutual and contending values in relation to dramatically changing historical conditions. Before this, the term had no such centrality, and after it, each tradition came to define normative dharma separately as the term's interreligious dimension lost interest. This book about dharma in history thus attempts to get at the concepts and practices associated with the term mainly during this window, which opens on dharma's vitality as it played, and was played, across political, religious, legal, literary, ethical, and philosophical domains and discourses about what “holds” life together. It examines what dharma meant in eleven texts, including text clusters like the Aśokan edicts and the canonical Buddhist Three Baskets, that can be said to have made dharma their central concern. These eleven “dharma texts,” nine “major” (including those just mentioned, the dharmasūtras, the Sanskrit epics, The Laws of Manu, and the Buddhacarita), and two “minor” (the Yuga Purāṇa and a set of Buddhist prophesies of the end of the Buddhist dharma), are explored for their treatments of dharma as experienced “over time” during this period of dynamic change. Each chapter brings out ways in which dharma is interpreted temporally: from grand cosmic chronometries of yugas and kalpas to narratives about divine plans, implications of itihāsa or “history,” war, and peace, gendered nuances of genealogical time, royal biography (even autobiography with Aśoka), guidelines for the royal life including daily routines, householder regimens including daily obligations and life‐stages, and monastic regimens including meditation.

From Chennai (Madras), India to London and Washington D.C., contemporary urban middle-class Hindus invest earnings, often derived from the global economy, into the construction or renovation of ...
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From Chennai (Madras), India to London and Washington D.C., contemporary urban middle-class Hindus invest earnings, often derived from the global economy, into the construction or renovation of temples. South Indians often lead such efforts to re-establish authentic temples that nonetheless become sites for innovative communities, new visions of the Gods, and distinctive middle-class religious sensibilities. Although a part of the much-discussed resurgence of Hinduism, Gods and their ritual worship — not nationalistic ideology — center these enterprises. This book aims to go beyond the more common analytical starting points of identity, multiculturalism, transnationalism, or globalism to understand contemporary Hinduism. In both conversation and contention with current theory, the book highlights the Gods, their shrines, and the middle-class people who re-establish them. Using surveys of modern temples in Chennai, London, and Washington D.C. patronized by South Indians, it focuses on the ubiquity of certain Gods and Goddesses — but not all — their portrayal, the architecture of their new “homes”, and their place in the modern urban commercial and social landscapes. Arguing that this migration of Gods in tandem with people is not new, the book traces current temple architecture to Indian merchants who constructed new temples within a decade of the founding of Madras by the East India Trading Company in the initial era of the current world economic system. In the process, it questions the interrelationships between ritual worship/religious edifices, the rise of the modern world economy, and the ascendancy of the great middle class in this new era of globalization.Less

Diaspora of the Gods : Modern Hindu Temples in an Urban Middle-Class World

Joanne Punzo Waghorne

Published in print: 2004-09-23

From Chennai (Madras), India to London and Washington D.C., contemporary urban middle-class Hindus invest earnings, often derived from the global economy, into the construction or renovation of temples. South Indians often lead such efforts to re-establish authentic temples that nonetheless become sites for innovative communities, new visions of the Gods, and distinctive middle-class religious sensibilities. Although a part of the much-discussed resurgence of Hinduism, Gods and their ritual worship — not nationalistic ideology — center these enterprises. This book aims to go beyond the more common analytical starting points of identity, multiculturalism, transnationalism, or globalism to understand contemporary Hinduism. In both conversation and contention with current theory, the book highlights the Gods, their shrines, and the middle-class people who re-establish them. Using surveys of modern temples in Chennai, London, and Washington D.C. patronized by South Indians, it focuses on the ubiquity of certain Gods and Goddesses — but not all — their portrayal, the architecture of their new “homes”, and their place in the modern urban commercial and social landscapes. Arguing that this migration of Gods in tandem with people is not new, the book traces current temple architecture to Indian merchants who constructed new temples within a decade of the founding of Madras by the East India Trading Company in the initial era of the current world economic system. In the process, it questions the interrelationships between ritual worship/religious edifices, the rise of the modern world economy, and the ascendancy of the great middle class in this new era of globalization.

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